Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Shaw, Harvey 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 6, 2008, 5:26 am

Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

HARVEY SHAW. That Joliet has become one of the important industrial centers of 
Illinois is due not to the labors of one man, but to the aggregate endeavor of 
many. Among those who have been leaders in this work and have pushed forward 
the wheels of progress is numbered Harvey Shaw, of the Silas Shaw Brick 
Company. He was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1870, a son of Silas Shaw, who 
was born at Brockville, Canada, in 1836, and died at Joliet on the 28th of 
August, 1899, when sixty-three years of age. The brick manufacturing 
enterprise with which Harvey Shaw is now connected, was established in 1854 by 
his grandfather, James Shaw, who came to Joliet in 1852 and was succeeded by 
his two sons, Silas and J. E. Shaw, who conducted the business from 1871 until 
1889. In that year Silas Shaw purchased his partner's interest and remained 
alone in the conduct of this important and successful enterprise until his 
life's labors were ended in death in 1899. The business was started on a small 
scale for the manufacture of building brick and has steadily grown to its 
present capacity, which is thirty-five thousand brick per day. Employment is 
furnished to fifty men and the output is highly satisfactory so that a 
continuance of a liberal patronage is assured. Since the death of Silas Shaw 
the business has been continued by his two sons, Fred and Harvey. In the early 
days of the industry James Shaw took a contract from the British government to 
manufacture brick for the fort at Quebec, and from that time to the present 
the demand for the products of the house has continually increased and for 
more than a half century the trade has been conducted under the name of Shaw, 
the grandsons now carrying on the enterprise, which they are enlarging in its 
scope, at the same time keeping in touch with the progress and development 
that have been made along the line of brick manufacture. For a time Silas Shaw 
operated a brickyard at Wilmington and also established what is known as the 
Galesburg Brick Paving Company, conducting business in Galesburg, Illinois, 
for a time. The family were the first brick manufacturers in this part of the 
country. James Shaw died in 1872 but there was no diminution in the business 
and the safe, conservative policy which he followed was maintained by his sons 
and has been continued in turn by his grandsons, who are recognized as most 
reliable and enterprising men. They have eighty-three acres connected with 
their yards where they secure their supply of clay, and located on the line of 
the Rock Island Railroad. Silas Shaw was supervisor of Joliet and was chairman 
of the building committee when the present courthouse was erected. He always 
stood for improvement and reform in matters pertaining to the general welfare 
and his co-operation could always be counted upon to further progressive 
public movements. He was a stalwart republican and held membership, in the 
Masonic fraternity and the Presbyterian church. Silas Shaw was married in 
Joliet to Miss Jane Mooney, who came to this city with her father, J. W. 
Mooney, by boat from the state of New York at a very early day. Seven children 
were born unto them: Edward, who is married and lives in Seattle, Washington; 
Ella, the wife of J. F. Brady, of Atkinson, Nebraska; Fred K.; Bert; Harvey; 
Roy; and Maud A. Harvey Shaw in connection with his other business interests 
is one of the stockholders in the Joliet Pottery Company, which was organized 
for the manufacture of pottery. He helped to build up this enterprise and his 
sound judgment and business force have been the impetus in its growth and 
success. Throughout his entire life he has been connected with the business of 
manufacturing brick and is thoroughly acquainted with the trade in principle 
and detail. While he keeps in touch with modern business methods he also 
manifests the same spirit of reliability and trustworthiness which has ever 
made the name of Shaw an honored one in business circles. In politics he is a 
republican and he belongs to the Masonic and Elks lodges and to the 
Presbyterian church. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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